TRACK AND FIELD

TRACK AND FIELD; Given Reprieve, U.S. Men Get It Right

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY

Published: August 13, 2001

EDMONTON, Alberta, Aug. 12—
It was late Saturday afternoon, and Tim Montgomery was convinced that his world championships had ended one day earlier than planned. The United States men's 4x100-meter relay team had been disqualified from its heat for a lane violation, and Montgomery sadly went out and did what he had been waiting weeks to do: buy two cheeseburgers and commence a training-breaking feast.

But before he could bite down, someone came running up with the news that a United States appeal had been accepted and the relay team reinstated. ''I had to throw them away and get prepared for tonight,'' Montgomery said. ''But I didn't mind. I'll get two more now, and I bet they'll taste better.''

Better because the United States sprinted to a convincing victory in the relay today, the final day of these championships, despite the fact that Maurice Greene was not running. Greene injured his thigh while winning the 100, but the United States still had the two men who shared the podium with Greene: Montgomery, the silver medalist, and Bernard Williams, the bronze medalist.

After Mickey Grimes ran the opening leg, Williams ran his well and passed the baton to the veteran Dennis Mitchell, who handed off without a hitch and with a reassuring lead to Montgomery, who raced home to finish in 37.96 seconds. Watching it all in street clothes and on crutches was Jon Drummond, who was called for the lane violation Saturday because he stepped on a lane line after straining his thigh 40 meters into his opening leg.

The rules state that if a runner steps on a line, he is disqualified, but because Drummond veered off course only because of his injury and because he did not obstruct another runner, the jury of appeals chose to reinstate the Americans in the interest of ''fair play.''

''It was an emotional time,'' Montgomery said. ''But Jon Drummond did the best he could just to finish the race yesterday. Most coaches tell you that whenever you feel anything wrong with your body, you should stop: 'Don't injure yourself more.' He could have ended his career out there, but he didn't stop, and he didn't for the United States and us. So my hat's off to him.''

When it was over, Drummond and Mitchell, who expects this to be his final championships, were in tears. There was no repeat of the sophomoric victory celebration at last year's Olympics, where Greene, Williams, Drummond and Brian Lewis were widely criticized for treating the American flag disrespectfully and for making faces on the medal stand after winning the 4x100.

The United States also won the men's 4x400 relay today, benefiting from a terrific anchor leg by Angelo Taylor, who is better known for winning the Olympic 400 hurdles title last year.

Taylor, diminished by a sinus infection that required him to take antibiotics, failed to qualify for the final in his main event, but his performance today was almost enough to make one forget that the greatest 400-meter runner in history, Michael Johnson, could have been running the anchor leg if he had been able to reach an agreement with United States track officials.

Instead, after declining to participate in the national championships, Johnson settled for watching the relay from the television booth (he was working here as a commentator) and will take his farewell relay lap at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, next month.

Though the men's teams prospered today at Commonwealth Stadium, the women's 4x400 team did not. It was in prime position for another gold medal when Michelle Collins finished her third leg with a 5-meter lead on the field and passed off cleanly to the anchor runner, Suziann Reid.

But Reid had difficulty switching the baton from her left to her right hand, and as she started sprinting, she soon fumbled the baton into the closely clipped grass on the side of the track. Momentarily stunned, she kept running, then reversed course and retrieved the baton, but it was too late for the gold or any medal. Reid ended up fourth and in tears behind the Jamaican, German and Russian anchors.

The despondent Reid soon left the track and the stadium, while her teammates searched for answers. Jearl Miles-Clark said she thought Reid might have been anxious about trying to hold off two excellent 400 runners: Lorraine Fenton of Jamaica and Grit Breuer of Germany.

Because of Reid's mistake, Russia ended up tying the United States atop the overall medal standing with 19, depriving the Americans of an outright victory at the world championships for the first time since 1991.

The Americans still finished with the most gold medals (nine) and finished first in the placing tables, which are based on the number of top-eight finishes.

''I guess we can continue to call ourselves the world's No. 1 team, but we have to do better at preparing our team,'' said Craig Masback, the head of USA Track and Field.

FINISH LINES

In other events Sunday, MARIA MUTOLA of Mozambique chased down her rival STEPHANIE GRAF of Austria in the final 5 meters to win the 800 by three-hundredths of a second in 1:57.17. . . . The greatest javelin thrower in history, JAN ZELEZNY of the Czech Republic, won his third world title to go with his three Olympic titles with a championship-record throw of 304 feet 5 inches. . . . HICHAM EL-GUERROUJ, the remarkable middle-distance runner from Morocco, won his third straight world title in the 1,500 with ease, blowing kisses to the crowd and slowing to a jog down the stretch. He still finished in 3 minutes 30.68 seconds while BERNARD LAGAT of Kenya took the silver medal in 3:31.10. . . . HESTRIE CLOETE of South Africa won the women's high jump on a countback after both she and INGA BABAKOVA of Ukraine cleared 6-6 3/4. . . . LIDIA SIMON of Romania finally won a major title in the women's marathon after several near-misses, outsprinting REIKO TOSA of Japan inside the stadium to win by five seconds in 2 hours 26 minutes 1 second.

Photos: The American Suziann Reid, left, dropped the baton yesterday as Lorraine Fenton, right, and Jamaica won the women's 4x400 relay. (Reuters); At left, Hicham el-Guerrouj (760) winning the 1,500-meter final over Bernard Lagat; at right, Tim Montgomery receiving the baton from Dennis Mitchell in the 4x100-meter final. (Photographs by Agence France-Presse)